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Norman Ho

Senior Partner

Practice Area:

Corporate Real Estate

LLM, University of London
LLB (Hons), National University of Singapore
Solicitor, England & Wales
Advocate & Solicitor, Singapore

T +65 6232 0514
E norman.ho@rajahtann.com

Norman Ho, who has over 40 years of experience in corporate real estate work, has advised on a wide spectrum of property-related transactions, including investment sales and purchase (by way of share or asset sales), collective sales and project development transactions. He regularly advises property developers, investment funds, statutory boards, property consultants, investors, financial institutions and purchasers in corporate real estate matters.

Norman has been consistently ranked as a leading real estate lawyer by independent legal directories. He has been ranked a Band 1 Leading Individual in the Real Estate – Singapore Practice by Chambers Asia Pacific 2023 and recognised as an Elite Practitioner in Real Estate by Asialaw Profiles 2023. He has also been ranked as an Expert in Real Estate by Expert Guides 2022, included in Best Lawyers 2024 for Real Estate, and recognised as a Leading Individual by The Legal 500 Asia Pacific 2023, where he is quoted to be “one of the most experienced real estate specialists in the market”. Norman is also recognised in the Asia Business Law Journal’s The A-List 2023 as one of Singapore’s Top 100 Lawyers.

Norman has acted for owners and investors in commercial, retail, residential and resort developments both within and outside Singapore (including United Kingdom, China, Indonesia and Australia). His projects include the development and financing of major shopping and office projects and the acquisition of large commercial buildings in Singapore's Central Business District (“CBD”). He has acted for major developers in large residential projects, such as the CBD Marina Bay Residence.

He has also acted in the acquisition, sale and leaseback of industrial developments, involving the Housing Development Board and Jurong Town Corporation.

A leader in collective sale transactions, Norman was involved in one of the earliest collective sales, as well as one of the largest of such sales (Farrer Court with 618 units) in Singapore. To date, he has been instructed to act for owners of over 200 developments and has successfully completed more than 120 of such transactions.

Norman was selected to make representations to the Select Committee, commissioned by the Singapore Parliament, on amendments to the Land Titles (Strata) Act in 1999 to facilitate collective sales. He was again consulted during a review of en bloc legislation and the ensuing amendments to the Act in 2007.

Notable Cases & Transactions
  • Lendlease Investment Management Pte. Ltd. on Land Amalgamation and Subdivision of 31 Exeter Road Singapore, which Singtel’s Comcentre headquarters is situated for its redevelopment into a S$3 billion sustainable office development and the subsequent lease back of the parts of the redeveloped land lots.
  • AEW in the purchase of Westgate Tower, which has 295 commercial office strata units at the property situated at 1 Gateway Drive known as "Westgate Tower", a 20-Storey Grade A office tower for about S$680 million.
  • Viva Land in the purchase of the 134-room Hotel So/ Singapore situated at 35 Robinson Road through a share acquisition for S$240 million.
  • Hywel Investments Ltd. in the sale of 100% shares of Universal Storage Pte. Ltd. the holding company of region’s largest self-storage operator, Extra Space Asia. Universal Storage Pte. Ltd. owns the region’s largest self-storage business with about 70 owned and leased facilities across 6 countries (Singapore, South Korea, Japan and Taiwan, Hong Kong).
  • Keppel FELS Limited in the sale of the JTC property situated at 55 Gul Road, together with 8 foreshore lots and seabed plots, plant and machineries, and floating docks to ST Engineering Marine Ltd., for a total consideration of S$95 million.
  • M&G REAL ESTATE ASIA PTE. LTD. in the purchase and leaseback of a portfolio of 4 properties (188 Pandan Loop, 209 Pandan Gardens, 239 & 241 Alexandra Road, and 301 Alexandra Road) for an aggregate of S$333 million.
  • United Overseas Bank Limited as lessees at JTC’s Punggol Digital District with the establishment of a 300,000 square feet centre, which will house around 3,000 talents engaging in technology, innovation, and digital roles.
  • Gaw Capital Partners in the S$1.58 billion acquisition by a consortium of a wholly-owned subsidiary of M+S Pte Ltd, which owns the properties known as “Duo DUO Tower” and “Duo DUO Galleria”.
  • Purchasers in the S$1.28 billion acquisition of One George Street, a Grade A office building located at the heart of the Singapore’s Central Business District. The firm also acted in the financing of the acquisition.
  • Golden Compass (BVI) Ltd. in its S$1.025 billion acquisition of the balance issued and paid-up share capital of the registered proprietor of the 32-storey “Oxley @ Raffles” (previously known as Chevron House).
  • Golden Paramount (BVI) Ltd. in the S$286.9 million disposal of the entire issued and paid-up share capital of a special purpose vehicle which is the registered proprietor of 55 Market Street Singapore.
  • Owners of 22 lots at Thiam Siew Avenue in the largest residential development site sold since July 2018 – the S$815 million collective sale of the 22 lots at Thiam Siew Avenue to Hoi Hup Realty Pte Ltd and Sunway Developments Pte Ltd.
  • Boustead Industrial Fund Management (as fund manager) in Boustead Industrial Fund’s S$422.4 million acquisition of a portfolio of 13 industrial real estate assets and interests comprising investments in business parks, logistics and industrial properties.
  • Purchaser in the S$810.8 million acquisition of the property known as Cross Street Exchange and situated at 18, 20 and 22 Cross Street, Singapore (which includes the 4 retails units at 181 South Bridge Road, Singapore) from British and Malayan Trustees Limited (in its capacity as trustee of Frasers Commercial Trust).
  • Mediacorp in its S$280.09 million sale by tender of the former Caldecott Broadcast Centre.
  • Facebook in its acquisition of S$1.4 billion first-in-Asia data centre in Singapore comprising an 11-storey, 1.8 million square feet facility. The negotiations involve Jurong Town Corporation, Public Utilities Board and the Economic Development Board.
  • Collective Sale Committee of Watten Estate Condominium in the S$550.8 million collective sale of 104 strata units at Watten Estate Condominium.
  • Lucas Real Estate Singapore in the S$175.8 million sale of 30-year leasehold interest in 1 Fusionopolis View, Singapore together with the iconic Sandcrawler building erected on it.
  • Purchaser in the S$220 million acquisition of a retail mall situated at 21 Choa Chu Kang North 6, Singapore 689578 and known as “YewTee Point” from HSBC Institutional Trust Services (Singapore) Limited (in its capacity as trustee of Frasers Centrepoint Trust).
  • Via IV (BVI) Holdco 2 Ltd in the S$142 million acquisition of the entire issued and paid-up share capital in a special purpose vehicle which holds a high specification light industrial building along Admiralty Street.
  • Hazel International Pte. Ltd., in the S$169 million acquisition of the entire issued share capital in Canopus II Pte. Ltd., the registered proprietor of the property known as ibis Singapore Novena and situated at 6 Irrawaddy Road, Singapore.
  • Eu Realty (Singapore) Private Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Eu Yan Sang International Ltd, in the carving out and S$54 million sale of a 199-years’ leasehold estate in respect of 265, 267, 269 and 271 South Bridge Road, Singapore.
  • Swedish retailer Ikea in its lease of approximately 70,000 square feet at JEM, a suburban mall in Jurong East, Singapore and will offer the full range of Ikea products and a restaurant.
  • OUE Hospitality REIT Management Pte. Ltd. and OUE Hospitality Trust Management Pte. Ltd. on the approximately S$1.49 billion proposed merger of OUE Commercial Real Estate Investment Trust and OUE Hospitality Trust.
  • Carmel Development Pte. Ltd., a joint venture between Hong Leong Holdings Limited, Hong Realty (Private) Limited and Guocoland Limited, in the S$980 million acquisition of the 290-unit freehold residential development known as Pacific Mansions in River Valley, Singapore.
  • OUE Limited in the sale of the strata-titled office components of the development known as OUE Downtown comprising two high-rise towers of 50 storeys and 37 storeys each, as well as a retail podium and multi-storey carpark for S$908 million with a rental support arrangement for a period of up to five years from completion.
  • Viva Industrial Trust Management Pte. Ltd. and Viva Industrial Business Trust on the S$936.7 million merger of ESR-REIT and Viva Industrial Trust by way of a trust scheme of arrangement with a combined S$3 billion in properties predominantly for business parks and other industrial uses.
  • Gaw Capital Partners in the S$710 million acquisition of the entire issued and paid-up share capital in a Cayman Islands company whose wholly-owned Singapore subsidiary is the registered proprietor of the property situated at 77 Robinson Road, Singapore.
  • The collective sale committee of Goodluck Garden in the S$610 million collective sale of all the strata lots and common property in the residential developments known as Goodluck Garden.
  • AirTrunk in the Singapore real estate aspects of AirTrunk’s SG$450 million debt and equity financing and acquisition of land to develop a 60+ megawatt (MW) hyperscale data centre in Loyang Singapore, which state-of-the-art facility will be the largest neutral data centre in Singapore.
  • Ascend TGrande Pte. Ltd. in the S$395 million acquisition of the entire issued and paid-up share capital in T-Grande Investment Holding Pte. Ltd. whose wholly-owned Singapore subsidiary, T-Grande Property Holding Pte. Ltd., is the registered proprietor of the property situated at 7 & 9 Tampines Grande, Singapore
  • Arch Capital Management in the S$210 million acquisition of the entire issued and paid-up share capital in Yongjin Holdings Pte. Ltd., the registered proprietor of the property situated at 72 Anson Road, known as Anson House, on behalf of a German fund.
  • Areca Investment Pte Ltd (wholly-owned subsidiary of CapitaLand’s CRL Realty Pte Ltd) in the purchase of the 99-year leasehold residential development known as Pearl Bank Apartments, and assisted on the topping of a fresh 99 year tenure.
  • ADC Singapore Trust in its S$99.6 million acquisition of the JTC property (comprising a six-storey industrial building used as a carrier hotel / data centre) at 9 Tai Seng Drive, Singapore, from Sabana Shari’ah Compliant Industrial Real Estate Investment Trust.
  • Owners of Park House comprising of 60-unit freehold residential development, situated at 21 Orchard Boulevard for a total consideration of more than S$375 million, which translates to a record price of S$2,910 per square foot per plot ratio.
  • Logan Property Group and Nanshan Group Singapore Co. Pte. Ltd. in the successful bid for a government 99 years leasehold residential land parcel at Stirling Road land site that crosses over the S$1 billion mark.
  • Green 18 Pte. Ltd in its investment in Summervale Properties Pte. Ltd. ("Summervale"), an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of City Developments Limited ("CDL") which is the registered proprietor of all 156 strata units in the high-end freehold residential development known as Nouvel 18, situated at 16 and 18 Anderson Road, valued at S$965.4 million. Summervale successfully obtained a clearance certificate from the controller of residential property on the date of completion.
  • Kheng Leong Company (H.K.) Limited in its S$213 million acquisition of a group of companies which owns 21 Anderson, a freehold condominium development in Singapore, from Hong Kong-listed Far East Consortium International Limited.
  • Northernone Development Pte. Ltd. in the S$205 million disposal of the entire issued and paid-up share capital of Northern Retail Pte. Ltd., the registered proprietor of the property situated at 598 Yishun Ring Road, Singapore comprised in the whole of Strata Lot No. U86443T of Mukim 19 known as Wisteria Mall.
  • Everfit Sage Pte. Ltd. (a special purpose vehicle of Gaw Capital Partners) in the acquisition of the entire issued and paid-up share capital of the registered proprietor of the property situated at 1 Selegie Road, Singapore 188306, also known as POMO for S$342 million. We also acted for the borrower in relation to the financing aspects of the transaction, which also involved banking facilities of more than S$240 million from a local bank.
  • SRIF Pte. Ltd’s trust Singapore Residential Income Fund in its acquisition of the entire issued and paid-up share capital of the housing developer of the residential project at Pearl Island, Sentosa Cove. The transaction required the approval of Sentosa Development Corporation, and clearance certificate from the controller of residential property.
  • TG Development Pte Ltd and Tee Development Pte Ltd in the swap of an aggregate of 80 units in two separate developments (20 unsold units out of 52 in one, all 60 unsold units in the other) jointly developed by the two companies with the units estimated to be valued at S$165 million and acted for Tee Development Pte Ltd in the related financing of about S$27.6 million.
  • Morgan Stanley Real Estate Investment GmbH in the S$149 million sale of the entire issued and paid-up share capital in KAG 1 Holding SG Pte. Ltd. ("KAG") to Radiant Charm Limited, which is affiliated to the Tang group of companies. KAG is the registered proprietor of 23 strata units in 8 Draycott Park.
  • SC Aetas Holdings Pte. Ltd, a subsidiary of SIN Capital Group, in its S$380 million en bloc acquisition of all 45 commercial and residential strata units in the development known as Thong Sia Building.
  • Blackstone Singapore Pte Ltd, on behalf of Amber Investment Holding (Cayman) Limited, in its S$164 million acquisition from Arch Capital Asian Partners, LP which holds 34 strata units comprised in the residential development located at 21 Anderson Road.
  • RB Capital Group in its S$232.5 million acquisition of Gallery Hotel at 1 Nanson Road Singapore (now Intercontinental at Robertson Quay).
  • Exklusiv Resorts Pte Ltd in its S$318 million sale to Oxley Gem Pte Ltd of the leasehold estate for a term of 103 years in 30 Stevens Road, Singapore.
  • LVND Investments Pte Ltd in its S$163 million purchase of Hotel Windsor located at 401 Macpherson Road from Ho Bee Developments Pte Ltd (“Ho Bee”). This deal also involved the leaseback of the hotel component and a management agreement with Ho Bee and financing from United Overseas Bank Limited.
  • Morgan Stanley in its S$380 million divestment of the whole of its indirect interest in an investment holding company which held four dormitories in Jalan Papan, Woodlands, Kian Teck and Tampines in Singapore.
  • Owners of Farrer Court in its sale of the 618-unit development to Morganite Pte Ltd, a consortium comprising CapitaLand, Hotel Properties and Wachovia Development Corporation for S$1.34 billion. This remains Singapore’s largest collective sale transaction to date.
  • Public Utilities Board as the lessor in the lease to Singapore Island Country Club (the “SICC”) of the golf courses at Thomson Road and near MacRtichie Reservoir, as well as in the lease to Sport Singapore of the public golf course at Bukit (Sime) location. Other government agencies were also involved as SICC was required to construct and maintain a public access trail within the land for Island Location.
  • CIMB Bank Berhad and TG Group of Companies (“Company”) in the refinancing of two stacks of residential properties owned by the Company via commodity murabaha term financing facilities allowed under the Shariah laws. The aggregate facility value is in excess of S$105 million.
  • HL Bank in its acquisition from National Australia Bank Limited, a portfolio of property and term loans granted to medical practitioners and medical and dental clinics in Singapore ("Portfolio"). The Portfolio was transferred pursuant to Section 55C of the Banking Act and required the approval by the Monetary Authority of Singapore and the High Court.
  • Lion City Hotel Properties Pte Ltd in its sale of the Lion City Hotel and the adjoining former Hollywood Theatre site for S$313 million.

 

Memberships/Directorships

  • Honorary Legal Advisor, Real Estate Developers’ Association of Singapore (2001 - present)
  • Board Member of Asia-Pacific Real Estate Association (Singapore Chapter) (2020 – present)
  • Notary Public and Commissioner for Oaths (1996 – 2008)
  • Legal Advisor and Member, Bone Marrow Donor Program (Registered Charity) (1993 – 2018)
  • President, Bone Marrow Donor Programme (Registered Charity) (2014 –2018)
  • Consultant, Singapore Academy of Law (Stakeholding Rules) (1996 - present)

 

Publications

  • Co-author, “Halsbury's Laws and Precedents – Land”, Vol 14, Butterworths Asia (2001)
  • Contributed a chapter for “The Practice of Law”, LexisNexis (2011)
  • Practical Law - Foreign Companies Leasing Office Space in Singapore – Thomson Reuters (2022)
  • Business Times - Real Estate Tokenisation - A Myth or Reality – 6 May 2023
  • Practical Law – Real Estate Considerations in Corporate Transactions in Singapore – Thomson Reuters (2023)